Survival of the Richest
by 7midknight7
Summary: This is what happens when I watch 2012 and then spend the whole film thinking 'I wonder what Seto Kaiba would do in this situation'. I think I did some okay. Read and tell me your opinion. Enjoy it if you have to even.
1. Chapter 1 - Activate Chaos

It started as a normal day at work for Seto. For the last year now he'd been continuously pestered by calls from a private number. Normally he would let these calls go straight to voice mail but the person would never leave any message. Seeing as the occurrences of these messages were often. The CEO had decided to pay no attention to them. It was probably a stalker or something like that. It was about nine in the morning when the call came, a bit out-of-place seeing it was not at the usual time for this private caller to call. So he decided to pick it up.

"Hello, Seto Kaiba speaking." he said clearly into the phone.

"We're going to send you details of where you should be coming this afternoon. Bring your brother." the person on the other end of the line said. "We've tried to contact you for ages now and this is your last chance. Today the world ends."

Seto grunted and hung up. Probably a prank call intended to draw him out into the open. His email then sprang open and a message supposedly from the united nations popped up. Seto closed the message. Someone had hacked his systems it seemed. Hacked his maximum security system. So he set to work on doing a virus scan of all of KaibaCorps systems in the hope of washing out whatever virus' could be creeping. When none were found he gritted his teeth in annoyance and decided to open the email. It had two attachments. One was a map and the other was printable tickets. He scowled at them and decided to read the email.

The email detailed of scientists discovered that there would soon be a major shift in the ears crust and that basically it was going to be the end of the world as they knew it. It detailed too of ships that were talking in certain people from all over the world to keep the human race going. The email was quite convincing, either this was actually happening or someone was being very clever.

Getting up from his chair he printed the tickets and map. Before heading to a different computer with the plan of loading the map to a data card that he would then load to his blue eyes jet plane. The plane had recently received upgrades to be more aerodynamic and fuel efficient. With a full tank of full he'd be able to fly for seventy-eight hours straight. The only downside to the jet was the fact it only carried two people and at the most, a couple of briefcases of stuff. But that would be enough if it came down to what was said in the email.

Just as he'd loaded the card the jet the building began to shake violently. Seto steadied himself by grabbing a table and soon it was over. He growled under his breath. Perhaps the email was right. Maybe it really was the end of the world. Well, if so... he'd better go and get Mokuba from school. He could take a helicopter from the building to his brother's school and pick him up before heading off to the base where he kept his jet. Gathering his suitcase together he removed paperwork and put in a couple of his favorite books along with his deck. There was no way in the world he was going to let his dragons get hurt. Even if it was the end of the world. He'd still save them. Right then another quake started and growling under his breath he ignored it and started for the stairs and the top of the KaibaCorp office building.

After thirty seconds the quake stopped, this one had been more violent than the last and some parts of the building seemed to have broken. A few ceiling tiles and that was about it. Running up the stairs he passed many people heading the opposite way for when, or if, the building had become unstable. Some were beginning to fear another even stronger quake in the near future. Many higher-ups questioned what the CEO he was doing but Seto pushed them from his way and finally made it to the top of the building when another stronger quake hit. With a growl he ran to the copter and jumped in. He didn't bother with a safety check because as soon as the quake had finished another started and he felt the building beginning to tip over. Copter on and active he began take off and was in the air sooner than what was safe. At least his building was the tallest around so that no other building could crash into him. That was a bonus.

Immediately he took off towards his brother's school, he kept a close eye on the city below. Cracks in the surface of the ground were appearing everywhere and he wondered how many casualties had happened so far. He didn't bother to look back to KaibaCorp. If it fell it fell. If it didn't, well good. Mean's he made the right choices about the positioning of the building.

It was a short flight to Mokuba's school and he landing outside before turning on the speakerphone of the helicopter. "Mokuba," he called into the microphone, "I'm picking you up early today. Get out here now, I don't care there's an earthquake. If you stay there you are going to die, you hear me?" Many students responded by running from the classroom but then cringing away from wind the helicopter was putting out. Seto waiting impatiently for his younger brother who soon appeared and was yelled at by Seto to get in the copter immediately.

"Seto, what's going on?" the younger asked hoping into the seat next to his brother and then slamming the door shut.

"If my sources are correct, the end of the world Mokie." without another word he took off and pointed the helicopter in the direction of the jet.

"Where are we going big brother?" Mokuba then asked.

"We're going to get the jet, fly to some place in china and board a ship that will theoretically save our asses while the rest of the world goes to oblivion." Seto said sternly. If was a five-minute flight in the helicopter to reach were the jet was and Kaiba was more than relieved when he found the facility intact. Landing it outside on of the doors he didn't bother to power down the helicopter. He landed it on the shaking ground and leapt out with his briefcase and made a beeline for the doors. Being a research facility some of his scientists were present. Most were bracing themselves because of the earthquake but after being shouted at by Seto to get to their stations for the launch of the jet they nervously did as they were told.

After a quick rush around with Mokuba he'd grabbed his helmet and turned it on. Details of wind and direction immediately appeared before his eyes. He jumped into the jet and pulled Mokuba in with him. Another earthquake hit and sparks flew from some of the control panels. "Now!" he shouted through the speakers at the scientist who obeyed and flicked the switch nervously for the CEO who in their opinion must have gone insane. With very little trouble they were in the air and off towards their destination. The good thing about being in Japan meant that the journey shouldn't have been that long.

Mokuba in the back seat looked out the window nervously. The cities were starting to go to ruin as they cracked up, shifting eastward towards the boundary of the tectonic plate. He swallowed his fear and sat back in his seat. "Seto..."

"Yes Mokuba."

"What about our friends..."

There was a pause. "We can't save them."

"Can't we at least say goodbye..."

Seto pushed a few buttons and the screen on the back of his seat lit up. "Call whoever you want to Mokuba..."

Nervously Mokuba scowled through their contacts and tried to call Yugi. Seto glanced over his shoulder to the city. The buildings were a mess. He'd be surprised if any calls made it. To his surprise he heard someone pick up the phone to Mokuba's call. "Help! I don't know whose calling but if you can help, please..." Seto immediately recognized the voice. "Yugi!" he yelped in alarm and switch the video call from Mokuba's screen to his own. "Yugi, we, we can't help you. But... we can say goodbye. What's happening."

"I'm trapped... the gameshop... roof... please don't leave me. Help..."

"Yugi, this is the end of the world. In your position... your doomed. I'd help if I could but landing my jet anywhere in the city is a suicide mission... plus... only two seats. I'm sorry but, I can't help you."

There was a flash of light and the snarling face of the Pharaoh took Yugi's place. "You say we're doomed Kaiba, but we won't stop fighting just because you tell us too."

Seto's eyes moved away from the screen. "I'm sorry Pharaoh, but your both going to die. I'm in my jet and I can see the city from where I am... anyone there is doomed. If the falling buildings don't kill you the tsunami's afterwards will."

"Kaiba! You bastard! Help us!" the Pharaoh yelled at the small technological device he was holding. The game shop was a wreck, the roof was caved in and the door jammed. He/Yugi were trapped and among the rubble. In a space no more than a metre by a metre wide. Yugi had tried to dig his way out when his mobile had begun to ring. He didn't know he was but he had been was crying in distress. "We're not going to die!?" he shouted at the phone, his voice breaking showing how frightened he was. Sure he and Yugi had faced some fearful situations. But being trapped. With no light other the phone. Almost continuous earthquakes. This was something he didn't understand, something that terrified him.

Seto attempted to give him a small reassuring smile. "I'm really glad I had the opportunity to make your acquaintance. You and all your friends. Thinking back on it. You all made my life a better experience than it probably would have otherwise. Thank you, Yugi, Pharaoh. You were brilliant rivals and I wish I could save you. It will be a dull world for me without you."

The Pharaoh who still held the phone shook with his teeth bared. Yugi tried to take his body back but fear held the spirit in place. "Don't leave us here. You have to help us!" he cried. The line went fuzzy.

Seto swallowed guilt creeping into his mind. "It might just be the moment... the situation..." he started, "but I love you two. I hope you both have a great after life..."

"Kaiba!"

"..."

The line then went dead. With a yell of frustration the spirit flung the phone at the floor smashing it and ridding the small space of it's only light source. "Yugi, I'm sorry..." the spirit said sinking to the ground.

Seto cursed quietly and switched the call off. "No more calls," he said quietly, "I need to concentrate..."

Mokuba busied himself with attempting to lock onto a satellite signal. When he found it he busied himself hacking in and suddenly received an influx of report data on where they were going along with reports on earthquake data from all over the planet. "Seto..." he said in shock of what he was seeing.

"What Mokie?"

"Is an eleven on the richer scale even possible?"

Seto let out a small grumble. "Guess it is... do you have any other data?"

Mokuba swallowed. "If the wind isn't in our favor we're going to be surrounded by ash clouds soon."

"How soon?" Seto questioned.

"Any time now. It depends where any other volcano's decide to go off... and... Yellowstone has erupted..."

Seto turned his eyes to the horizon and then glanced at the map he had. "We can make it." he stated as calmly as he could. At that point someone called them and he answered. "Where is your current location?"

"Flying over open water. Will be flying over china in approx five minutes. Give me time to get my jet into the upper atmosphere and I can be at the ships in around ten minutes."

"Why haven't you reached upper atmosphere yet?"

"...distracting phone calls."

"I didn't think you'd be one to be receiving calls?"

"I wasn't receiving them. I was making them."

"Make it quick. There isn't much boarding time left."

Seto nodded even though he wasn't on video call. "Very well. I'll get there are quickly as I can."

The call then ended and everything was silent again. Seto kept his gaze firmly on the distance. From the corner of his eyes he caught sight of another plane heading the same way as him. He decided to ignore it and pull up and find an air current that would speed up his journey. The next five minutes were silent apart from Mokuba's occasional updates on the worlds situation. Seto spent his time being thoroughly disgruntled and rising above any ash clouds the came across. Somehow he went off course though, something neither of the two brothers noticed.

"We should be there?" snarled Seto angrily. He circled the area a few times before shouting angrily about how he'd miscalculated his wind speeds and jet speeds. They weren't even over china anymore. They were above freaking america and the ash clouds from Yellowstone were busy engulfing what was left of the country. The ash cloud was slowly approaching them and he shouted curses, if he flew into it then the engines would jam and they would crash. They had to go back the way they'd come but that was easier said then done. Seto was disappointed in the amount of fuel left in the jet. If they could fly above the ash cloud they would have been able to get there... hopefully.

Seeing as it was now the pairs last chance Seto pulled the jet up and sped up in the hope of getting over the ash cloud before any of the ash could raise that high. This was not his day though and before he knew it they had engine problems. He screamed and shouted curses at the jet. Telling it not to fail him. It couldn't fail him. He wouldn't let it fail him. Seto did his best to keep the jet steady. If his calculations were correct, even if the engines failed they were still high enough to glide down to where ever and make an emergency landing.

"How many do you think have died so far, Seto...?" Mokuba suddenly asked.

The CEO didn't answer, too focused on not letting the jet crash. When he had the jet steady he answered. "Billions."

Mokuba didn't respond and looked out the window at the black clouds below them and the seemingly clear sky above them. "How high are we?"

"Very high."

More silence.

"Mokuba, I recommend you strap yourself into your seat and be ready to eject if I tell you so." Seto decided to say. His brother was slightly confused by this.

"I thought you had the jet under control?"

"It's just a precaution Mokuba. Just if I lose control."

"Yes big brother."

From the back seat the click of Mokuba strapping himself into the seat could be heard. Seto shifted in his seat slightly and changed the direction of the jet slightly so they were heading towards their destination. Something didn't feel right. Seto had thought beforehand they were going in the right direction but they handed. Had the latitude and longitude of the planet somehow changed? It couldn't have. Could it? The earths crust couldn't have shifted that far had it?

Something suddenly hit the wing of the jet and in a panic Seto swerved away and rolled the plane. "Shit!" he growled and attempted to steady the jet by whatever it was that had hit them had taken out one of the engines. So now they were running on only two. "We have to get away from this volcano." Seto growled to himself. The only problem was that the amount of ash about was preventing them from seeing the ground and hence where the volcano actually was. "Fuck it, I'm pointing us to the north pole." snarled Kaiba. Mokuba sat confused. "Why?"

"Because something is either wrong with our equipment or the earths crust has moved much more than what I would have thought to be logically probable." Seto growled at checked the gage again. "And scratch that idea too. We're above america, but closer to the south pole than the north pole."

"Are you sure you reading..." Mokuba began but was cut off in mid speech by a horrible tearing sound which made both brothers look over their shoulder to try to see what it was that had made the sound. Seto cursed and turned his attention back to all the equipment. Gritting his teeth he tried not to panic. Somehow, somewhere, he had to land the jet. At this rate and this height they were going to crash with no hope of survival. Their only hope would be to find somewhere to land. Seto decided to continue on his old plan however and try to keep the jet steady until they could find somewhere safe to land. Any moment now he expected the wing that was hit to fall off. He'd concluded that was what had made the sound. Perhaps, it was in his best interests if he started downwards now.

With a slight amount of angling the jet began to descend through the ash-cloud, gaining speed as it did so. "Big brother? What are you..."

"I'm landing the jet Mokie. It's that or we plummet many thousands of feet to our death when that wing breaks off."

Mokuba went silent and stared out the window again. To be honest with himself he was terrified. He tried to imagine what it must be like for the people down on the land. How they must be coping. He asked himself how many he reckoned were still alive down there. He pondered how they would survive if Seto did manage to land the jet safely. The ash had to be settling by now. The whole surrounding area would probably end up like Pompeii For miles and miles the ground would be covered the ash. The air would probably be un-breathable because of toxic fumes. Mokuba let out a choked cry. "Are we going to die, Seto?"

"Of course not... we're... we're going to be fine Mokie. absolutely fine." Seto said shakily. All around them it was just black ash-clouds. The last engine had just failed on him and he was relying completely on momentum. He wondered how thick the clouds could be. They couldn't go on forever, that was sure. But at that moment that was sure what it felt like. A flash of bright light too their left made him grimace. "Please no electrical storms..." he grumbled, "don't make this harder than it already is..."

The tearing sound started again and in his panic Seto forced the jet into an even steeper dive. "Hang in there, hang in there." he growled at the jet. "Don't give up now..." The ash cloud hadn't opened up yet and with bared teeth he looked at the instrument that told him how high they were above the ground. He shouted in alarm and pulled up as hard as he could. "There should be a mask under the seat Mokuba. Put it on! Now! As soon as you have it on eject!" Seto commanded.

Mokuba panicked for a moment and scrabbled about under the seat with a hand, grabbing the mask that was meant to allow breathing in the higher atmosphere he pulled it on. "Are you sure brother...?" he shakily asked, "I can't eject unless you do as well..."

Seto bared his teeth and let go of the controls for a moment to reach under the seat and grab his own mask and put it on his lap before grabbing the controls again and leveling them out again. He looked about the ash-cloud which seemed to be thinning. Below them he was beginning to make out ash covered ground and a few surviving trees. The tearing sound started and with a horrendous snap the left-wing broke off and the jet immediately started to tilt. "MOKUBA! NOW!" he shouted.

In panic the younger Kaiba pushed the button and cringed as he and his seat were shot out of the jet.

Seto didn't have time to look back to see if his brother was ok. He was doing all he could to stabilize the now one winged dragon jet enough so he'd be able to eject from it himself. With one hand he did what he could to control the plane and with his other he grabbed his own mask and pulled it on before he breathed in to much of the harmful ash. As soon as he had the mask on he felt around for his own eject button but he was beginning to lose control. The jet had tilted onto its side and was beginning to barrel roll over and over in the air. Shouting curses at the plane he eventually bared his teeth and decided to give up. He was too close to the ground now. If he didn't eject now he was dead.

Pushing the button he shot upwards slightly and was relieved not to be hit by the jet. The moment he felt himself falling again he pulled his chute in the knowledge he was already under the minimum distance to do so in. Lucky for him, nothing went wrong with the parachute and he watched as his prized jet crashed into the ground below him. Only then did he realize what he'd left inside the jet. "My cards!" he mentally shouted in anger, but then sighed and decided it was no use troubling himself over their lost. He was alive, that was what counted. He just hoped Mokuba was ok as well. Looking through the dusty air he attempted to find his brother. He caught a glimpse of his brothers descending parachute and angled himself so that he'd end up landing close by.

Mokuba landed shakily and immediately began un-clipping himself from the chair and shoot and looked about frantically for his brother. He'd heard the crash of the jet while descending and now when he looked towards the crash site his stomach churned. 'please don't let Seto be in that... please let him be ok...' he thought to himself. Biting his lip in an attempt not to cry. Behind him he heard a crash and then some scuffling and he let out a yelp of alarm and spun around to see what it was.

To his relief it was Seto who had rid himself of the seat and parachute before he'd hit the ground, and had managed to land in a neat commando roll. "Seto! Your ok!" Mokuba cried racing over to embrace his brother. Seto gave him a stiff hug in return. "We have to see if we can get the emergency supplies from the jet, it doesn't seem to have burst into flames..."

Mokuba nodded to his brother who then directed him to stuff his parachute back into its bag in the bag of the seat. Seto proceeded the tear the seats to bits to get the bags out of them. "They'll be useful for shelter, the parachutes, don't you recon Mokie?" Seto had said as he'd done so. Once that was done the pair started the trek over to the ruined jet. Doing this made Seto extremely uneasy. He'd loved that jet so much and to see it now, in this state. It made him distressed. The threat that it might explode at any moment also made him distressed. The fact his blue eyes cards were inside it just made everything worse.

The two brothers made it to the jet without it exploding on them and Seto immediately jumped into the cock-pit and flung his briefcase out and as far away as he could. He paused for a moment. "There were first aid-kits with the seats weren't there..." he mumbled.

Mokuba uneasily pulled them from his coat. "I've got them big bro. I grabbed them when you were tearing the seats apart."

Seto flashed his brother a kind smile. "Good work, it's a relief to know that I can rely on you to remember the things I don't."

"No problem bro!" Mokuba chirped before going to grab the case Seto had chucked aside. The elder Kaiba busied himself with chucking supplies of use from the remains of the jet, Mokuba made himself useful by gathering the supplies together in a pile and proceeding to sort them in terms of survival importance. When Seto joined him they split the stuff between each other to carry. Few words were exchanged, both of them were feeling uneasy, probably in shock, after what had just happened.

And so their journey across the waste land started. Seto choose a direction and started off towards it with Mokuba following him closely. Wherever they went the ground was covered in ash. While walking the two started on discussing the factors of what they were going to do in the ways of food and water. They had a very scarce supply of water with them. A bottle each and theoretically the survival kit from the jet should have had a packet of water sterilization tablets. But when it's ash in your water not germs that you're worried about... neither of them were quite sure if they would actually help. Then was the matter of food. They had some rations in the emergency kit. But that was just a couple of muslei bars. Both of the brothers had moments when they were tempted to just collapse to the ground and give up but both being the stubborn people they were they kept on walking.

The longer they walked the further they got from the thicker region of the ash cloud, they were starting to be able to see bits and pieces of blue sky. Mokuba was the first to see a bit and pointed excited at it, pulling at Seto's arm to alert him. Seto had nodded, pleased with the discovery that they were most certainly moving about from the danger zone. Occasionally Seto would get his phone from his pocket and check the time. Not that he thought it really mattered, the time on his phone was most likely wrong because of their location.

"Seto, can we take a break...?" Mokuba panted, his legs finally giving up beneath him. Seto turned and stared down at him wearily before letting out a sigh and stepping over and slumping to the ground next to him. "Sure we can Mokie, it's been a long hard day for the both of us. We should rest." He pulled the bag he had off his back and opened it to pull out the parachute which he covered the both of them with. He gave Mokuba a pat on the arm and a kiss on the forehead before coiling up in an attempt to get some sleep.

Seto woke to sit bolt upright. For a moment or two he panicked from the parachute being over him. Mokuba grabbed at his waist and the two of them held each other close for a few moments while they waited for the shaking to stop. When everything was still again Seto nervously pulled the chute off of the both of them and began to stuff it back into the bag. "Two mouthfuls of water." he instructed his brother who nodded and did as he was told to. The landscape looked mostly the same, more ash fall overnight hadn't helped, leaving the two confused about what direction they had originally been heading in. But looking back they could see the thick black ash that showed them the location of the volcano. The way they wanted to go was the opposite of where that was so with that their course was once more set.

"Seto, I'm hungry..." Mokuba moaned as they trudged through the ruined forest.

"We'll find some food soon Mokie." Seto said over his shoulder, in his own mind he felt that this statement was a lie. The back of his mind was screaming at him that this was going to be their end. But the rest pushed him on, telling him they could survive this, telling him they **would** survive this.

After around three hours of walking they stopped by a stream. Mokuba twitched nervously as he fought the urge to leap at the water and drink it. Seto discouraged him however, not wanting to take the risk of it being poisoned by ash. To compensate for the loss of a potential drink he let his brother drink another couple of mouthfuls of water. As for himself he was becoming highly de-hydrated as he refused to drink his own water. Wanting it to keep for as long as possible. After crossing the stream and about half an hours worth more walking he gave in and indulged in a few large gulps. Mental dialogue told him that they were hopelessly lost and they should give up all hope. He still refused to give in and dragged Mokuba along by the hand.

"Seto, how much longer do we have to walk?" pleaded his brother on occasion. Seto continuously told him to just keep going. That they'd be fine, all they had to do is just keep going. Finally on the horizon they could see blue sky and eagerly he pulled on his brother's arm and pointed to it. "Look Mokie. We're so close. Just another few miles."

"Seto, I'm so hungry..."

"So am I but we have to keep going. We can't stop here."

"Can't I at least have a bite to eat? Please, I feel like I'm going to collapse again..."

With a sigh Seto stopped and rummaged around the survival kit that he'd strapped to the bottom of the parachute bag. He took out one of the two muslei bars and gave it to Mokuba. "Little amounts at a time. It's all we got." he told his brother who nodded and broke off about a mouthful sized amount and then broke that in half before shoving the bar into his pocket. He held half the piece of to Seto who shook his head. "I have my own." he stated and pushed the offering back to Mokuba who seemed disappointed his brother had refused his offer. "Besides, you need it more than I do." Mokuba nervously put a piece in his mouth and started walking again.

"Seto?" Mokuba questioned looking too his brother.

"Yes Mokuba." Seto replied sounding exhausted.

"What will happen to us if the ash cloud expands further out?"

Seto made a sound of distaste at this thought. The problem with it was that the ash cloud was more than likely being carried further out by the wind. He wouldn't be surprised if they were fighting an unbeatable battle. He covered his face with a hand. "Then we'll just have to walk further than I hoped we'd have to won't we?" he questioned with a smirk.

"I don't want to walk anymore Seto..."

"Neither do I Mokuba. But we have to otherwise we'll die out here."

"What if we walk ourselves to death..."

"Don't think so negatively Mokie, we're going to be fine..."

"You can't guarantee that..."

"You have no idea what I'd give to do so though."

The pair continued to walk until Mokuba collapsed again. This was only a temporary pause though. After drinking a little of his water Seto picked up his brother and kept on walking with Mokuba asleep in his arms. It was straining but Seto was determined to get as far as he could, occasionally he felt small earthquakes but none as big as those felt when they'd still been back home in Japan. At one point he tripped over a fallen log waking his brother temporarily but once picked back up the younger fell asleep again.

Seto walked until he could no longer and collapsed to his knees and put Mokuba on the ground before flopping to the side and passing out.

Seto was gently shaken awake by Mokuba who immediately held out one of the water bottles the moment the elder Kaiba brother opened his eyes slightly. "Big brother, big brother, are you ok? What happened?"

Barely getting out a moan Seto reached to take the bottle and sipped at it. Doing his best not to drink the lot. "I refuse to die..." he murmured. Mokuba then pressed a piece of muslei bar to Seto's lips. "Eat Seto. You need to eat."

Rolling to his back the ex-CEO pushed it away and looked up at the sky that had apparently cleared. But seeing as it had become rather windy over his period of sleep it wasn't that surprising. All that had to of happen was for the wind to change and the ash cloud would move. Gradually he sat up and Mokuba held the piece of muslei bar again. With a sigh, Seto took it with a nod and ate it. Besides, his brother was probably right... he hadn't eaten for a while now... if he wanted to keep going he'd have to eat...

"Where are we Mokuba... how far did I take us... climb a tree... tell me if you can see anything..." Seto said cringing from the stiffness he'd been left with after lying for so long in the same position. His brother went and immediately started on what had been requested of him. When up at the top of the tallest surrounding the tree the younger clung tightly and called down to his brother. "All I can see is forest. There appears to be an opening just ahead of here. If we're lucky there could be a hut."

Seto who had gotten to his feet now and was looking for his mask replied with "Well, let's not get our hopes up." Moments later Mokuba dropped back out of the tree and started off again. They walked in silence towards the opening, Seto could feel his brother prickling with the faint excitement of hope. He was even walking ahead eagerly. Seto lowered his gaze from what was ahead, he wasn't looking forward to seeing his brothers disappointment when they got there. But disappointment wasn't found. He was brought to his senses by a yelp of delight from his brother as Mokuba broke into a run and ran up the step of a half destroyed house. A tree had fallen through the roof, whoever had lived there was most likely gone now and would have taken everything they could out of the house.

"BROTHER! FOOD!" Mokuba cried after disappearing inside.

Seto straightened upon hearing this and climbed the unstable steps to the door of the house which now he thought about it, was more like a shack. It probably would have been a hut that a park ranger used to stay in before all the chaos had happened. "Be careful Mokie... this place doesn't look that safe." he decided to voice. But no reply came.

"Big brother..." came Mokuba's stressed cry from a room further in the building. Seto went to him to see what was causing his distress. He too was brought to silence when he saw what had happened. The tree that had crushed the house had crushed the ranger that had once lived there. By the looks of it the man had tried to gather his emergency supplies a couple of cans of tuna and a bottle of water lay about his crushed body. Putting a hand to his brothers shoulder Seto made Mokuba look away. "Go out back, take the food you found. I'd expect this man to have a vehicle of some sort out there."

Mokuba gave a solemn nod before walking off disheartened. He grabbed the box that he'd spotted on the kitchen bench and heaved it out the front door before walking around to the back of the house. As Seto had thought there would have been, a vehicle sat out the back, it's boot still open wear the dead man had been busy filling with all the supplies he could. He tried to think positively about what had happened to the man. His death was allowing the two brothers to live at least a little longer and that had to be something positive... right. With a heave he lifted the box into the car and turned to see his big brother carrying various cans and bottles of stuff he'd pulled from the cupboards.

"Let's see how much stuff we can get from this place Mokie, the more the better. I'm sure that as a park ranger he would have been someone who would help others. We can reward ourselves with a small feast tonight." Seto said smiling weakly at his brother who nodded and darted back inside the building.

It took them half an hour to empty the shack and move everything to the car. Seto organised everything in terms of importance. Water took priority over food, food took priority over medical supplies and some medical supplies took priority over everything in the car. The car was packed full of stuff leaving only the two front seats of the large Jeep like car free for the brothers. Seto lay out a blanket on the dusty ground in front of the house and used the gas cooker they had decided not to bring with them to boil water out of the shacks water tanks to make some hot drinks and a dinner of re-hydrated meat and pasta. Perhaps not the nicest possible meal, but it was something.

Mokuba tried to make the set up more civil and found cutlery and plates. Afterwards while he waited for Seto to finish cooking he played with the radio, muttering 'nothing' over and over until he gave up and tossed it aside. Why hadn't he taken his mp3 player to school that day? Then they could have had the small luxury of some music.

"Mokuba. Dinner." Seto called solemnly putting the food onto plates and pouring some tea into cups. Another small luxury he indulged himself and his brother in was using the small amount of real, non-powdered, milk that was left in the rangers fridge. For the first few minutes they sat in silence. To busy with eating to talk. I was just about when he was going to finish that Mokuba piped up. "Seto, why can't we just stay here... we can bury the man and repair the house. We can hunt too. Wouldn't it be a great adventure big bro?"

Seto thought about this in silence as he picked at his food. "What about cooking? The gas and fuel won't last forever?"

"There was flint in the emergency kit brother! We could do well!"

"What about ammo? I didn't see any bow and arrows around did you?"

There was silence for a while. "No big bro... but we could make them! Think about all the fun we could have doing so!"

Seto didn't say anything. He finished his food and began to clear up. "I'll think about it Mokuba. For now we should sleep."

"Plus the ash clouds are clearing up!" Mokuba then added handing his brother his plate. Seto gave him a grim smile. "I told you I'd think about it Mokie."

Nodding Mokuba went and got the sleeping bags they'd taken from the hut and lay them out on the sheet. His brother stopped him though and dumped a tent bag at his feet. "I thought I told you I'd found this?" he grumbled. Mokuba shook his head but started about setting it up with his brothers help. The hut was a gold mine for the two. It was giving them more stuff than they needed to survive off. If they took up hunting the stuff could probably last them days. There were books in the hut to, if there was one on plants they could gather edible plants as well. Seto was trying to keep his pleasure at their finding at bay whilst Mokuba was open with his excitement and let it flow. He couldn't even begin to comprehend their luck.

That night the two slept huddled tightly in the tent, exhaustion plummeting them into a dreamless abyss. Seto woke first, used to being tired. For a few moments he even forgot their situation and thought that perhaps Mokuba had just climbed into his bed after having a nightmare or something. When he did remember what had happened, the whole thing felt like a nightmare. Opening his eyes to look around the only one metre wide tent he gazed blankly at the yellow canvas, contemplating what Mokuba had proposed the night before.

When Seto really weighed his options, staying in the woods didn't seem that bad. He had some first aid training, he'd had Mokuba do some the year before as well. They would be able to care for themselves well once they got into the roll of things. Besides, if they found real civilization what were the chances it would be the same as it used to be. When pushed to the extremes of survival people's stress levels went out the roof, if they went to a city they'd probably be welcomed with riots. People fighting for supplies needed to survive. What would be the point in going there when out in the woods they could sustain themselves and not have to worry about other people. Soon he found himself settling on the idea of staying and began thinking of what would be needed.

'Might want to block off the forest track and fix the surrounding fences...' he thought to himself. Keeping predatory animals away would be a start. 'Perhaps cut down a few of the surrounding trees, don't want any others falling on that hut if we ever plan to fix it...'

Sitting up he heard Mokuba moan in his sleep, he shh'd him and told him to sleep a little longer before leaving the tent and taking a walk to give the place a proper examining. They never had when they'd been sorting out all their new supplies. Seto ended up concluding that yes, they would be able to do it. It would be hard and a shock to the system, but he was sure they'd be able to do it. He and his brother were smart, both of them had taken self-defense and Seto knew how to use a gun. They could survive. Actually, he was certain they WOULD survive this. A little maintenance here and there and they'd be sweet.

Looking back to the tent to make sure Mokuba was still asleep he decided to go find a saw to start cutting away a tree. If they were going to live there they'd need to get rid of the mans dead body.

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**A/N: **So yes, this was fun to write, slightly melancholy, but fun. No need to rate but please do review, your opinion is gladly appreciated. If anyone has idea's for a continuation let me know because at some point I'll probably end up writing on whether people want me to or not. Thanks for putting up with this things existence and I'm so, so, sorry about killing Yugi. I didn't want too I felt to so bad reading over it. If I do a second bit then I could make it that he turns out to actually survive or something. I don't know. Just don't hurt me.


	2. Chapter 2 - Living all along

**A/N:** You know when it's really late at night and you feel like writing but your so tired everything is just stupid. Here everybody, have this. Enjoy the Kaiba brothers fight to survive in the outlying woods of Yellowstone. Mokuba finds a wolf cub and Kaiba is being depressed. After being there for a month Seto is trying to formulate a plan on how to eventually leave the woods and go after the ships. Blar blar blar so on so forth. Enjoy.

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Approximately a month had pasted since the supposed 'end of the world' and finally the Kaiba brothers were starting to have something they could call home. It had taken a surprisingly short amount of time for he ash clouds to clear which was a good sign for not only the two brothers, but the rest of humanity. Seto had immediately got Mokuba to search through the rangers guide books to learn about trap making. After some hard work the younger Kaiba had mastered a few basic traps and begun to set them around the area. In just the first week they managed to capture multiple squirrels, a rabbit and a hare. Quite the bounty and something that made a better meal than the re-hydrated rations. As for the dead man, Seto dragged his body outside and dug him a respectable sized grave to put him it. Even if he didn't know the man, his death had led to their survival, they owed him an adequate burial site. Seto even fashioned him a wooden cross engraved with what he'd assumed to be the man's name.

Most of the fallen tree had been removed now, Seto hand spent a majority of his time riding the house of it. It left a huge hole in the roof but at least it meant they'd have plenty of firewood for the winter, and boy did Seto reckon it was going to be a cold winter. Winters in Yellowstone were said to be could but even though they were on the outskirts, if what the gauges on the jet said were true, the poles of the planet were moved and they would be in a very cold area. He wouldn't be surprised of the gases from the volcanoes all over the place also added to the cold, for certain types of gases could in fact give the earth some form of heat reflective coating that could linger for years. He just hoped that wouldn't be the case, just hoped they'd be given a chance to hang on a little longer.

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"MOKUBA." Seto's voice sounded but was lost among the sound of crashing buildings. The air was thick with dust and he could barely see a foot in front of him. He was having a nightmare again, the same one he'd been having ever for the last two weeks. Lost in the ruins of the crumbling city of Domino, frantically searching for his brother. For anyone, anyone at all In fact.

As he ran he found himself stumbling and finally falling with a jolt back to reality. With a gasp he awoke and lay there drenched in a cold sweat. He hated to feel fear, to feel weak and powerless. But every morning, for the past two weeks, that was how he'd felt. He lay there staring at the ceiling, trying to focus on all the tiny cracks in the plaster and not his aching muscles. Day after day of shifting wood wasn't helpful to his energy levels and these nightmares waking him up at herbs crack of dawn weren't helping either. Rolling over he focused his gaze on Mokuba coiled up in his own sleeping bag. As always, relief crept into his mind to see him there. Still alive, still healthy, still strong. Once his heart rate had finally returned to normal he crawled out of bed to go fetch himself a drink of water and a muesli bar. 'Clouds on the horizon...' he remarked to himself as he looked out the window, 'better get as much of this place fixed up before it hits... If that's even possible'. Shaking his head he rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and sleepily began kicking stray branches into a pile. 'Better get Mokuba to set up some more traps, don't want to hunt in the rain...' he thought to himself absent mindly when he began to feel his thoughts straying to what it must be like back home now. 'When he's done that I'll get him to shift some of this wood...'

Looking up at the hole he then shook his head with the knowledge there was going to be very little hope of fixing it without the proper tools and time. 'Perhaps we just leave it be. There are still two good rooms. Some people don't have the luxury of having a house...'

'Some people will never have a house again.' echoed in the back of his mind but he pushed it aside. He had to concentrate on what had to be done. What had happened and couldn't be changed. Once more his thoughts went back to what it must be like back home and he cursed himself. 'But seriously, how many would have survived? Japan's probably under water now.' he thought to himself.

Mokuba pulling on his arm brought him back tithe current. "Yes Mokie?" he asked tiredly.

"Seto, how long till the roof is fixed." he asked looking up at the ceiling.

"To be honest, I don't think it will. At least not before winter. Besides. There are still two good rooms here. If we get them sealed up well we'll be swell." he said thoughtfully.

"I was thinking that we should turn the excess curtains into clothing. It's starting to get cold." Mokuba then said pointing to the room across from them that was a complete mess.

"Good idea. How about after you check to traps and reset them, you take them down and put them with the sleeping mats? Oh, also, I want you to set up a few more new traps to. There are clouds on the horizon and I don't want to be stuck inside with a storm going on. When you've done those things I would also like you to help me move all the wood to the wood shed."

"Can do big bro." Mokuba said with a grin before giving Seto a hug and running off to get himself some breakfast.

Shaking his head Seto continued moving to branches into piles, his mind wandering to all the possible options of what they could do in the future. 'The roof had solar panels, if I could fix them I could get a heater working. Plus they had a generator... But fuel could be an essential bargaining tool in the future... Maybe when everything is sorted we could go find the jet and see if we can get any fuel from it... No... I've thought of that before... It's most likely buried by ash by now... But if it isn't... I shouldn't get my hopes up...'

He shook his head at himself but he just kept thinking. If only he had some music to listen to. Then his mind wouldn't stray so much. Besides, he had to stick to his long-term plan, survive. 'But if I find the jet I may be able to repair it...' he paused to ponder this then shook his head. 'No, the wing has been torn off, I don't have tools to repair that kind of damage... I could try though...' picking up the bundle of sticks he went outside to the woodshed and began to stack them in an orderly fashion. 'We have more than enough wood here to last the winter... I hope.'

Walking away he brushed his hands off on his pants, what he would give for a proper shower. The dead man had plenty of spare clothes for them to use, too small for him and too big for Mokuba bit they were something and they made living that little be more pleasurable. "Bloody log." he grumbled as he almost stumbled over one of the larger sections of wood he hadn't managed to move yet as he came into the house. He then noticed something shining out of the corner of his eye, at first he'd dismissed it as metal fitting but when he looked at it again he noticed it was a necklace. A puzzled frown on his face he approached and picked up the locket. He turned it over in his hands a few times before he opened it to find a picture of a young woman. He frowned at it. Was this the mans wife? Mother? Or had there been two people in the hut at some point and it had been left there. On the inside across from the photo it was inscribed in English 'I will love you forever Joshua.' Closing it Seto looked towards the rangers grave. With a heavy sigh he left the hut once more and headed to the grave to dig a small hole on top of it and bury the necklace with its owner. With a grim expression he stepped back from the dead mans grave and headed back inside. His mind trailed 'Joshua, Josh, Joey... Joey... Home...' he thought to himself as he picked up more sticks. 'I wonder any of them ended up surviving...' he pondered to himself, it was a thought that crossed his mind often. Immediately that last call crossed his mind, the fear and distress in the Pharaoh's voice when he'd told his rival they couldn't help them. What a horrible death it must have been for them. Pity for his rival swallowed his mind, not just his rival but the group that he'd become friends with over a time. The thought that were gone... It just didn't sink in. It didn't feel possible that they could just not be there any-more Gone, vanished, their lives extinguished. No matter how hard he tried to face to grim fact they were gone he found he just couldn't. "Grrr, focus on collecting wood stupid." he scolded himself out loud.

He began to think about work in trying to get his mind off of the more solemn things he could be. 'End of month accounts would have gotten sent through today.' he thought to himself, 'I would have expected to have gotten my dividend of forty-five thousand from QueenStar corp. They could have gone far, might have even ended up buying them up and merging them with KaibaCorp...'

"Seto! Seto! Seto! You won't believe what I caught!" Mokuba's cries caused him to stop what he was doing and turn his attention to his brother running from the woods with a couple of rabbits in hand. He was beaming proudly despite looking exhausted from running some distance back to the hut.

"What is it Mokuba?" he asked curiously.

"Quick! Follow me! I want you to kill it before it gets away! I can't do it, I tried but it's too strong for me." Mokuba said bouncing up and down as he waited impatiently for his brother to put down his bundle of logs and follow him.

With a sigh Seto did so and started after his brother who sprinted off as so as he'd begun to follow him. It was a long run but when he saw what it was Mokuba had snared he beamed proudly. "Well done!" he said with a grin. His brother handed him the knife.

"I didn't think I'd made my snares that strong!" Mokuba said proudly but then snickered as he watched his brother begin to wonder side to side with knife in hand watching the small wild pig carefully. It attempted to charge the CEO down but with swift step to the side Seto moved from its way and it pulled the noose tight around its rear leg tightly. To Mokuba's alarm his brother suddenly leapt onto the animal, loud squealing came from the animal and an equalling loud snarling came from Seto. Soon the pig was silent and Seto sat up looking proud of himself. "Well that wasn't to hard." he said with a smirk. He pulled the knife from the small pig and picked it up. It couldn't have been that old, it wasn't even fully grown. But it would still make a substantial meal. "Good work Mokie, go finish checking your traps and I'll take today's prizes back to base for you." his brother nodded proudly and watching his brother wander off back to the hut.

Mokuba had slowly become accustomed to the surrounding woodland. Over the time the two had stayed at the hut Mokuba had mapped the area in his mind, memorizing where the game trails were along with major landmarks. He'd seen deer a few times but was aware his traps weren't going to trap those. He was happy with what he did get though, he was contributing to the two's survival the best he could and was proud with how much he could. Many kids his age probably wouldn't have been able to do what he was.

Mokuba didn't really mind the change to self-sufficiency as much as his brother seemed to. He did miss home sometimes but the new environment gave him a sense of freedom and adventure. If only his brother found it as exciting as he did. Mokuba knew that his brother was distressed about the current situation, though he never voiced it, he heard his brother tossing and turning at night. Sometimes he'd even seen him wake to sit up and hold his head in his hands. He wanted to help his brother but as soon as he made it know he was awake Seto pretended everything was ok. 'Hopefully tonight he'll be happy...' he thought to himself with a smile as he walked to the. Next trap and found a squirrel caught in it. 'Perhaps I should learn how to make bird snares for putting in trees?' he pondered as he took the dead animal from the noose and reset the snare. 'It's been an exceptional hunt today!' he then thought breaking into a merry skip. Stopping suddenly he listened to the distressed yowls of some creature. Slowing his pace he neared the trap to find a wolf cub trapped there. It had managed to get a foot stuck before being hauled into the air. Unsure how to proceed he got out his knife and watched it carefully. 'I probably shouldn't get close... It's mother could still be near...' he thought to himself. Seeing him the creature let out a warning snarl, Mokuba stayed attentive eyes locked on it but ears open to any movement in the surrounding area. Stepping closer he pointed his knife at it and to his surprise when he got it close to its face it began to lick the blood from the blade. "Did your mother die in the chaos?" he questioned it in a kind tone. The creature was too busy focusing on licking the blood from the blade now to take noticed. Lowering his guard slightly Mokuba reached out and grabbed it by the scruff of the neck, it whimpered but when Mokuba released it from the trap it calmed. Now came the tricky part, did he kill the animal or set it loose. If he was right and it had lost its mother than it would just die anyway, but... It was too innocent... Plus, he'd always wanted a pet. Putting the cub on the ground he cut the tail off the squirrel he'd caught and tossed it to the cub who immediately set about devouring the small piece of meat. "You're hungry aren't you?" he giggled in a sarcastic tone. When it was done it immediately began to beg for more but Mokuba shook his head and picked it up by the scruff again. "Until I know what to do with you, you can just come with me." he said before going off to continue his trap checking. Finding another couple of squirrels he went about setting new traps up further out. He hand to put the cub down and he found it followed him begging for more food. When its constant pestering got too much Mokuba ended up beheading one of the squirrels and tossing the head to the pup who ate it without a second thought. This time it seemed content though and sat watching him with curious eyes. Mokuba found himself actually quite pleased with the company and talked the animal through what he was doing and why. 'Not like it can actually understand.' Mokuba said to himself glumly.

After a short walk he had returned to the hut to see his brother stacking wood. Bending over he picked up the pup and with a deep breath strode towards his brother. "I ask we keep it." he went ahead and stated. Seto turned to him and was slightly shocked to see his brother carrying a small wolf cub. Either it was young or had been the runt of its litter. He mind trailer to Joey and all the times he'd insulted him with dog related insults. Making a disgruntled sound in the back of his throat he grimaced. "Mokuba, that's a wolf cub." he then stated.

"I know that big brother." Mokuba said slightly frustrated with his brother response so far.

"Do you realize how much they eat? Mokie?"

Mokuba looked at the cub who let on a distressed whine. "We won't necessarily feed it the good stuff. Just the scraps. Come on, pleeeeease. It can come with me hunting! I'll train it. Pleeeeease. It will be a good companion too! And a guard! Oh please big brother."

Seto bristled in annoyance, he didn't like the idea. Gritting his teeth he finally spat out "Fine, but it's completely your responsibility. Try to make it hunt for us. Any extra source of food would be great." he grumbled before turning away and going back to the hut to gather more of the wood he'd cut.

Mokuba let out a happy squeal and hugged the cub who squirmed in alarm. He promptly released it and cut off another squirrel head for it.

"Mokuba! Butcher the kills why don't you." Seto said as he came from the house, arms laden with wood again. He nodded and ran to start on what had been asked of him. The wold cub padded after him to watch, obviously thinking Mokuba to be its new mother or something. Sitting down with the fresh kill Mokuba got out the knife and began to butcher the animals, it wasn't an activity that he particularly enjoyed doing but it did have to be done and if it meant food he was more than happy to do so. With the cub sitting at his feet Mokuba absent-mindedly through the inedible part of meat to it. Some bits it ate and others it didn't.

Seto noticed this when passing and smirked, "Well I guess it'll make a good garbage can won't it?" he remarked and his brother snickered. "Seems that way doesn't it big bro, should we name it?"

"Find out it's gender first." the elder brother stated before heading back inside to continue working. When he really thought about it, perhaps having the wolf around wouldn't be that bad of an idea. They were going to have to be staying put for some no matter what, if trained it would make a loyal line of defense. Of course, it being a wolf he would need to establish the hyrachy among them. Of course, he would be at the top of that hyrarchy. If he could make the wolf loyal to him and his brother then it would make their survival all the more easier. Plus... if they were pushed to the worst possible situation, they could kill it for food.

Sighing as he looked about the room, it was finally clear, just two more to go and he could seal what he had to with tarps. When he'd started on the job he'd never really thought of how big it was going to be. In some place of his mind he told himself doing what he was, was unimportant and he should be out gathering food with Mokuba. Perhaps he should have been, perhaps his interests in clearing the house would doom the both of them to starvation. Shaking his head he left the hut again to go put the logs onto the wood pile. Mokuba had finished the first rabbit and he watched his brother hang the skin up on the washing line. 'Ugg... so unsanitary...' he thought to himself with a grimace.

Wood now in the shed he stretched and went back inside to get a knife, he really didn't want to keep moving all the debris around, for the first time in weeks he finally going to do something else. Sitting where Mokuba had been he grabbed the pig and scowled at it as he pondered how on earth he was meant to actually butcher the thing. He decided he might as well just do what they seemed to do on tv and slit its belly open. The smell of blood stung his nose, it wasn't something he liked. He wondered if he should let the carcus bleed out first but where would he go about doing that? He heard his brother snickering at him and he turned his head to scowl at him. "If you don't won't to get your hands dirty big bro, then don't do it. I'm sure I can do it myself." Mokuba said with a teasing grin.

"Well I might as well get used to it shouldn't I?" he said pulling out the pigs guts and tossing them to the pup with a grimace. The small animal yipped with delight and began playing with them. Seto made a face of disgust. "You better teach that thing to keep clean." he grumbled at his brother who snickered at him again.

"It's not like we're bathing currently big brother? Did you think of that before you came to help?" Mokuba said cheerfully, but an undertone of unhappiness at the fact was clearly there.

"No... I didn't. I just wanted to get away from stacking wood... We should find a stream or something at some point, I would give one of my rarer cards for a shower right now."

"I big amount to give being it's you big bro." the younger Kaiba laughed, "To be honest I'd love a wash as well, I hate feeling so dirty. At least that man had a hairbrush, imagine if I hadn't been able to brush my hair Seto! It would be such a mess."

"Your hair is always a mess Mokie." Seto said with a smile then ruffled his brother's hair. The younger Kaiba let out a yelp and moved away. "Hey! Your hands are all bloody! Don't do that! Don't make me return the favour!"

The CEO (or ex-CEO in this case actually) chuckled and focused back on attempting to butcher the pig. A sly smile on his face. Annoyed by this Mokuba picked out the eyeball of the rabbit he was butchering and threw it at his brother who let out a loud 'ACK!' as it smacked him in the face. Knowing what was to come the younger Kaiba jumped up and sprinted off laughing maniacally.

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**A/N: **Last 500 words done during the day and oh god my writing no. Well anyway, give an opinion. If you have ideas on how to continue, tell me and I might include them. I'm composing a mental list currently of what to do with this, I like it too much now and am wanting to finish it god dammit. So yes, till I am bored or can't sleep again, I leave you with thisssssssss.


	3. Chapter 3 - Winter part 1

**A/N: Sorry that this update took ages, is shorter than the other two and isn't as good. Enjoy it anyway I will use how I ended it to make the next chapter. (At school now though so updates will be further apart. Sorry for being annoying. *facedesk* Also... I feel that I made this chapter terribly inconsistent to itself, don't ask how but you'll find out. **

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Another couple of months passed by the Kaiba brothers and before they knew it they were snowed in. So far it had been a week of not being able to go outside and Seto's stress levels were high. He was constantly worrying over how much food they had left and how deep the snow was going to get outside. After giving up on his goal to clear the entire tree at least they had more food than they would have had otherwise.

The two brothers now slept cramped in study, the old heater not putting out due to the lack of electricity. They no longer slept separate either, they had no choice but to coil up together along with the cub that had grown steadily. Even now in the deep snow it still went outside and occasionally would come back with a squirrel for its adopted family. Seto had moved the outside wood oven into the room for heating, it made everything smell strongly of wood smoke but it was better than dying of hypothermia.

The food was stored in the same room as them along with all there other supplies. The only stuff not where they were was the wood that had been put into the one other still intact room. Movement for the two was little, they sat about playing with a pack of cards that had been found in the rangers room along with magnetic chess. Another adopted activity was whittling. It wasn't the prefered activity however because whatever got made was burned none the less.

On the current day the weather was clear but after opening the window to stick his head out for a second Seto realized that just because it was clear didn't mean it wasn't freezing. It was then that he got a true appreciation for the insulation the building had. He sat down on the rest of blankets and watched Mokuba plate his hair. "Stop that, you're going to make your hair fizzy." Seto said to him smirking.

"What else is there to do? I don't feel like reading about plants again." Mokuba grumbled continuing to plat the strand he'd pulled in front of his face. The cub was now curled up next to him with its head on his knee.

"We could play a game." Seto suggested, "Perhaps, imagine that we're prisoners of war or something, imagine ourselves in another situation." To be honest with himself he could imagine their current situation was like being prisoners, they couldn't go outside long, only got a certain amount of food a day and were bored to death.

"Isn't that what we are." Mokuba said making the connection for himself. The elder Kaiba nodded in response. twiddling his thumbs he grabbed a chuck of wood and started cutting off pieces and throwing them into the fire. He mentally pictured himself sitting in the garden of the Kaiba mansion, fresh suit, clean un-scarred. hands, the smell of spring in the air... he let out a sigh. He'd taken so much for granted before, but now to be in this situation. He put the piece of wood down and turned away to go get a handful of dried berries. "Here," he said holding the handful to Mokuba and picking at them himself, "why not let ourselves indulge in a little treat."

Mokuba stopped plating his hair for a moment to take a few berries and place them on his knee. The cub sniffed at them and went to lick some up but the younger Kaiba grabbed its muzzle and slammed it to the ground. "No. Not yours." he growled at it. The cub whined in protest so Mokuba pointed to the door. "Hunt for food if you're hungry." Getting up the cub shook itself off, it was surprisingly intelligent and over some time of relying on the two brothers it had been forced into learning what certain things meant. Pointing meant to go somewhere, food meant eating and hunting meant getting food. So it this situation the cubs brain translated it to 'Go out and get food'.

Being as young as it was, it still wasn't a very good hunter but was persistent and always caught at least one squirrel or rabbit for itself. It plodded out the door and the brothers could hear it clamber out through the gap Seto had left in the tarpaulin. "Do you suppose he'll bring us something this time" Seto questioned eating a couple more dried berries before picking up the piece of wood again.

"Perhaps. He hasn't lately so I cut his share of food to guilt trip him."

"That being you assume the cub feels guilt. It's an animal Mokuba, don't assume it cares." Seto growled working away at the block of wood. Mokuba hung his head.

"I think he cares..." he mumbled before continuing to plate his hair, "we're his pack and pack members look after each other."

Seto didn't respond, too focused on attempting to whittle himself a blue eyes. He'd been slowly improving his skills and he was now determined to make himself one that was worth keeping away from the fire. "I suppose." he finally said after a few minutes of silence. "Mokuba, put more wood on the fire, we're down to embers again." he then stated and his brother did so without question.

It was at least two hours before the cub returned dragging a bloody rabbit in with it. The dead animal was already starting to freeze. Coming into the room it dropped it in front of Seto, the pack leader from what the cub saw. Flattening itself against the ground it let out a whine as if it was asking forgiveness or something. "Thanks." Seto said putting his roughed out dragon aside and taking the rabbit. The cub thumped it's tail before disappearing.

"Yay! Food!" Mokuba chirped, delighted by the site of the rabbit.

"Do you want to gut it Mokie?" Seto sighed holding it out to his brother. Mokuba took it eagerly, glad for something productive to do. Just when he'd begun whittling again and Mokuba had cut open the rabbit the cub returned with another rabbit.

"Oh..." Seto said as the second rabbit was dumped on his lap. The cub thumped it's tail and rolled onto its back. With a smile the ex-CEO leaned forward to scratch its belly. "Well done." he said seeming genuinely pleased with the wolf. Putting his work aside again he turned to cutting up the second rabbit, the two brothers tossing the unwanted scraps to the cub who happily chowed them down without complaint. When the cub was satisfied with its meal it curled up in front of the fire to sleep, leaving the brothers to silently butcher the food.

"He's a surprisingly good hunter for such a young wolf." Mokuba said stringing up the skin to dry and returning to butchering.

"Yes, he is. He is going to be a valuable asset in the future." Seto said with a grin as he passed the skin of the rabbit he had to Mokuba to hang up. More silence passed and the wind began to pick up. Something the brothers didn't pay heed to. They were inside and safe from it, it would trouble them not. Finally done with his butchering Seto put some of the meat on top of the fire place to cook. As the smell of cooking meat filled the room they both began to day dream of the world before 'the end of the world'.

Closing his eyes Seto imagined being back in the dining room of the mansion, a huge buffet laid out before him, butlers and servants rushing too and from bringing him what he wanted. He had a sudden craving for chicken stir-fry and lay down dreaming off rice, vegetables and exotic spices. He wanted a nice cup of coffee as well, strong like on the mornings after he'd worked late and was exhausted. He was broken from his fantasy's by his brother poking him. "Seto, what are you thinking about?" Mokuba asked a little concerned about how his brother was lying there with a content grin on his face.

"I'm dreaming of home Mokuba, I'm thinking about how I used to get up at six in the morning after working to eleven, how I'd get up and be exhausted and crave a strong cup of coffee. I'm thinking about food, pancakes, french toast, something with the wonderfully sweet taste of sugar. I'm thinking about sleeping on my warm comfortable bed and dreaming of sitting in the library with an endless amount of books to read. I desire work, I desire flavoursome foods, I desire to type on my computer, I even strangely wish to just sit in the middle of the city and watch people. Mokuba, I want it to be spring already, I want to snow to melt and the sun to shine, I want to drive my car, I want to insult Wheeler, I want to summon my Blue eyes and just... I just want to be home Mokie. I'm thinking of home. Imagining being home at the dining room table with a vast amount of food waiting for me, I'm imagining the smells, the taste the sensation of a full stomach..." he sighed heavily before opening his eyes and looking at his brother who gave him a weak smile.

"I'd like that too big bro." Mokuba said before turning away to retrieve the meat from the top of the oven. It was well cooked now and he cut it in half before placing the slightly larger piece onto his brothers face due to the fact Seto had closed his eyes again. He laughed as his brother lazily picked it up with an eccentric arm movement then dump it in his mouth and continue to just lie there, engulfed in his fantasy's of home. Shaking his head he nibbled on his own food before getting up and going to stare out the window. If it wasn't so cold he would have loved to go outside and play in the snow.

He could help but think it was beautiful out there, he could see the reason why people would travel out to this place for holidays. He could see blue jays flitting about the trees looking for pine nuts and the wind making the trees sway eerily. The way the light reflected off the snow was pretty as well. He had the greatest of desires to take a photo of it, but what was the use of a photo if no one would see it? "Why does it have to be so pretty outside, Seto?"

"I heard once that there is beauty in everything." Seto mumbled through the piece of meat that still hung halfway out of his mouth.

"If the weather is good tomorrow, I'm going to go outside and pretend I'm on that camping holiday we always intended to have." Mokuba said cheerfully, "I'll check the snares too and bring wolfie with me."

"That is with the assumption that this wind doesn't pick up and carry more snow to bury us." Seto mumbled.

"Come on Seto, don't be so negative. We NEED to get out and stretch our legs. We've been inside for ages now. Even if it is cold I want to go out, just for a little while. You brought your metal suitcase with your duel disk, why don't you summon the blue eyes and let the hologram fly about for a while." Mokuba said moving away from the window to go sit on his brothers legs."It would cheer you up wouldn't it?" he said expectantly.

Seto smiled and sat up, pushing Mokuba off his legs and taking the piece of meat out of his mouth and proceeding to eat it properly. "It would, but as I said before, it's dependent of the weather, who knows, it would be exceptionally calm tomorrow and we could go hunting and re-stock our supplies. Perhaps we could find some winter berries as well."

Mokuba let out a small cry of yippee before clapping happily. "Finally, I'll get to run around for a while. I'm tired of being stuck in this hut. I'm going to roll in the snow and try to clean my hair with it!"

"As good an idea that could be Mokuba, I remind you that its below zero out there. That may not be the best of ideas. But if you really want to, go for it." Seto said thinking he might do the same. It was an odd thought, a snow bath. In ordinary terms he would have laughed at the idea but with their current situation and his desire to be clean it didn't sound that bad. Sounded cold, that was for sure. But not that bad. He could do worse.

The wind that had been picking up had died down again and the sun was leaving them now. Looking to the blue eyes he'd been carving before he decided to put it aside and finish it later when the weather had them stuck inside more. "The stars will be shining brightly tonight if the weather stays how it is now. We can look out the window and see if we can make our own constellations like last time it was a clear night." Seto suggested beginning to tidy up the mess he'd made whilst whittling.

"I'll going to try to find a constellation that looks like us." Mokuba said cheerfully having picked up the pup and was busy scratching it behind the ears. Getting one of the blankets he sat against one of the boxes of supplies watching his brother move everything around. Personally he reckoned they should have been able to go out already it was just his brother was too worried about freezing to death. He'd even observed that his brother was mildly paranoid about the fire going out. With some much time confined in the room with his brother he'd had so much time to watch him he was picking up things that he hadn't before. Little things Seto did when he was distressed or feeling paranoid but was hiding it. His brother liked hiding his emotions but had become more open over the time in confinement. There wasn't much else to do other than talk about what you were thinking about.

Seto reorganized the bed again and Mokuba sat watching him with the cub. Everything was neat, not dirty, the only thing dirty was the oven which was covered in soot and ash. But Seto not wanting to get anything else dirty didn't clean it. This in a way was probably counter productive and didn't help in any way. "Can we move the mattress in here at some point?" Mokuba then asked, this was something he'd asked multiple times over the confinement and even though his brother said it was too much effort he was determined to make his brother break at some point. Besides, it would be more comfy and warm then lying on a camp sleeping map and layers of blankets.

"At some point," Seto hummed, "but not now."

"Why not Seto?"

"Because it's too much effort."

Mokuba grumbled pitifully and crossed his arms with the cub still in them. "It wouldn't be that much effort..."

"Let's not fight now Mokuba."

"There has to be some other reason you don't want to move it." he groaned letting the squirming cub go and curl up in front of the fire again.

"..."

"Please Seto."

"Mokuba, maybe tomorrow. If we get a good kill tomorrow, then we'll celebrate by moving the mattress."

"What constitutes as a good kill?"

"Five rabbits."

Mokuba let out a sigh of disappointment, that would be near impossible, with how hard it was to find a trail in the first place and then how hard it was to track something, they would not be doing that. But... the cub had caught two rabbits today. If it could do it he could, and together they'd be able to get more than enough. "I can do that." Mokuba said head held high.

Shaking his head Seto went and sat by the window watching the light leave the sky in silence. "It wasn't until coming here that I knew there were so many stars Mokie. I have to admit, if we went back to domino, and domino was how it had been. I would find it weird to look up at night and there not to be stars."

Nodding in agreement Mokuba went to join his brother and hug his waist. "I guess I agree." he said solemnly.

The two brothers sat there talking about the stars until Mokuba finally fell asleep and Seto decided to put him to bed and go to sleep as well.

* * *

**A/N: I hope this doesn't disappoint you too much. This is the spawn of 1am writing, writing with writers block and writing in the middle of english class. Anyhow, I hope (not going to say promise cos I doubt I can) the next chapter will be better. ADVENTURES ARE TO COME AND I HAVE SOME VAGUE PLOT-LINE WORKED OUT!**


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